Aerial vehicles such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used for performing surveillance, reconnaissance, and exploration tasks for military and civilian applications. Such aerial vehicles may carry a payload configured to perform a specific function, such as personal photography and videography.
Conventional UAVs may be manually controlled by an operator via a remote control device, requiring a dedicated operator of the UAV different from the subject of the photography or videography.
In some instances, it may be desirable for UAVs to track a specific target. For small-sized UAVs, such tracking is traditionally achieved via control commands from a user-operated remote control terminal or device. Such manual tracking control may become difficult in certain circumstances, such as when the target is moving quickly or is at least partially blocked from view of the user. Furthermore, the attention necessary for such manual tracking typically requires a dedicated user that controls a camera that onboard the UAV separate from the user that controls the navigation, thereby increasing the cost for UAV photography and other applications.